“Also, after Examined Life was finished I found myself thinking about the way creative opportunities and distribution channels were shifting. Should I be showing my films in theaters or just think about getting them out online? There were other issues, too.” ThinkingWayShouldFilmFoundOpportunityCreativeIssuesTheaterFinishedOnlineShould IDistributionShiftingExamined Life Author:Astra Taylor
“I mean look at all these acquisitions and mergers - WhatsApp and Oculus and et cetera. There's no way that you can envision these tech companies as the underdog anymore. They're always presented as though they were these little guys who you should be championing - Facebook will overthrow the cable television complex, blah blah - but it's more likely they will merge with them.” WayShouldLooksMeanLittlesGuyCompanyTelevisionComplexesCablesAcquisitionUnderdogBlahMergersWhatsapp Author:Astra Taylor
“It's the same thing in a way with privacy. You can say "I'm not doing anything wrong, therefore this doesn't concern me," but what does it mean about our society if we're all being watched and recorded? The personal experience - negotiating this as individuals - doesn't describe the social reality and the broader social costs.” IfsWayMeanDoeRealityIndividualSocialCostConcernPrivacyOur SocietyPersonal ExperiencesNegotiating Author:Astra Taylor
“I'm interested in the way the whole cultural landscape can shift over time. Okay, this will seem like a silly example, but look at the whole discourse around "selling out," a concept people say is irrelevant because there's no more distinction between mainstream and underground, inside and outside (which I don't really believe, but that's another issue).” PeopleWayBelieveLooksWholeSeemsIssuesExampleConceptsOkaySillySellingLandscapeDistinctionMainstreamDiscourseIrrelevantSelling OutInside And Outside Author:Astra Taylor
“think there's a culture of Silicon Valley that seems to have the attitude that you can have it both ways, that you can be an insurgent but also, ultimately, it's paid for by advertising, when in fact advertising is totally retrograde. Now that's an industry we should be disrupting, and maybe you disrupt it by funding public media. None of this is technological destiny; there are only social choices.” ThinkingWayShouldFactsSeemsChoicesCultureSocialAttitudeDestinyMediaIndustryPaidAdvertisingValleysTechnologicalFundingSiliconSilicon ValleyInsurgentRetrograde Author:Astra Taylor
“Again, it does seem like frustration is mounting in interesting ways, but I'm not sure there will be some dramatic tipping point. Then again, looking back on the history of television, you never know. People had to fight and articulate the politics and the rationale for different funding mechanisms. That was a long and drawn-out battle fought in different countries; it's not like BBC and the CBC in Canada just magically appeared out of the ether. People had to organize for it. I'm always willing to be surprised.” PeopleKnowsWayLongDoeDifferentCountrySeemsFightingInterestingTelevisionWillingBattleDramaticNot SureCanadaFrustrationMechanismLooking BackOrganizeFundingTippingDifferent CountriesRationaleTipping PointInteresting WaysCbc Author:Astra Taylor
“Are we on the tail-end of a generation that is enamored with the novelty of these devices and will younger people coming of age be more blasé about them in a healthy way? You look back at the history of any medium and the people who were there when it was developing, whether it was the telegraph or cable television or radio, thought, This is amazing, it's going change everything, or, The human community will finally be able to recognize each other and speak and be one - I mean, some people thought the telegraph or television would usher in world peace.” PeopleWorldWayHumansLooksMeanEndsAgeAbleSpeakCommunityGenerationsTelevisionHealthyRadioMediumsDevelopingDevicesComing Of AgeTailsNoveltyCablesEnamoredTelegraph Author:Astra Taylor
“What we need to do is take that inchoate sense that something isn't right and give it a structural component and the sense that things can be another way.” WayNeedsGivingComponentsAnother Way Author:Astra Taylor
“I would like people to be more aware of the fact that ultimately we are paying for things, and it's not just as privacy advocates point out that we're paying with our time and our data. We're also paying with money, because the hundreds of billions of dollars spent on advertising is just factored into the cost of the goods that we buy. It's all coming out of our pocket, just in a really roundabout way.” PeopleWayFactsCostDollarsBillionsAdvertisingDataOur TimePrivacyPocketsGoodsComing Out Author:Astra Taylor
